


astralis

by demistories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Bee!Chloe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Queen Bee, Recovery, fox!alya - Freeform, minimal romance, this is sad, turtle!nino
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-07-21 19:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7401286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demistories/pseuds/demistories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Chat Noir injured and unable to fight, Fu has given out the remaining three miraculous he had been guarding. It's up to Ladybug to train the three new heroes, but that's hard when all she can think about is her partner.  </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Ladybug stands on a beam of the Eiffel Tower. They’ll find her when they’re ready, she knows they will. There are things she has already predicted about them, ideas she’s formed in her mind. She bounces her yo-yo up and down, mindlessly flicking her wrist to send it whooshing back down the length of the Tower, pausing for the briefest of seconds a few feet above where civilians would stand before whisking back up to her hand. She’s never considered using her yo-yo as an actual yo-yo until recently.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. empty skies

**Author's Note:**

> _"ok but im imagining fox!alya, turtle!nino, and chlobee becoming a thing after either lb or cn gets hurt bc they can't handle the akumas without their partner :0" -anonymous on tumblr_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> here we go. 
> 
> shoutout to the ml-net for helping me plot how to ah... put someone out of commission. there are a lot of ways to hurt people. we discussed many of them. 
> 
> i wrote the majority of this after midnight last night so editing is meh. it may be a while before i update. a mix of team shenanigans and angst.
> 
>  **warnings** for a heck of a lot of panicking and anxiety, pretty serious injury (although not at all graphic), and all of the little side effects that come with said panicking and anxiety. 
> 
> enjoy~

Ladybug stands on a beam of the Eiffel Tower. They’ll find her when they’re ready, she knows they will. There are things she has already predicted about them, ideas she’s formed in her mind. She bounces her yo-yo up and down, mindlessly flicking her wrist to send it whooshing back down the length of the Tower, pausing for the briefest of seconds a few feet above where civilians would stand before whisking back up to her hand. She’s never considered using her yo-yo as an actual yo-yo until recently.

She’s itching to go. To do something. To punch something. Hawk Moth has been on the down low for the past few days, which is both a good and bad thing. Good because she doesn’t think she could handle an akuma right now. Bad because her anxiety has been building steadily.

She throws her yo-yo a few more times. She mindlessly wonders if she should go patrol before completely scrapping the idea. She hasn’t patrolled since—

Ladybug jerks back to avoid getting hit in the face with her yo-yo.

She decides that she hates this. She doesn’t want to do this, she doesn’t want to be here. She wants to be curled up in bed, staring at the wall with her mind blank. But Master Fu had said it was today.

Tonight.

If anything, she wants to sit down and pull her knees up to her chest. But now more than ever she needs to be the strong, confident Ladybug that Paris knows and loves. She doesn’t really know how to do that. All she can do right now is stand tall.

She hasn’t stopped shaking. Her hands are shaking. Her mind is shaking. Her soul is shaking. They promised that they’d keep her updated. She checks constantly, spending far too much time transformed for Tikki’s liking but she needs to know.

She spins on her heel as she hears screaming behind her. As it gets closer, she realizes that it’s actually two people screaming. Two people screaming, and one yelling at them.

Ladybug groans. Great.

“GET OFF!”

In the darkness, Ladybug can see someone _flying_. The Bee dips, losing altitude almost consistently. Two people are clinging to them, one with arms around their waist and the other hanging onto their legs.

They drop a few feet more and all of them scream. Not only are they going to wake up all of Europe, they’re also going to fall.

She throws her yo-yo and leaps off the tower. As she passes them, wraps her arm tightly around the waist of the person at Bee’s feet. She yanks them away from the Bee, twisting around and making her way back to the Tower. For her, it’s an easy maneuver. The Turtle clings to her neck as tightly as he can and doesn’t stop screaming until their feet touch the beam.

“GET HER OFF OF ME!” Bee yells, kicking her legs.

Ladybug tugs the Fox off with a sigh.

“I’m going to throw up,” Turtle groans, dropping to his knees.

Fox shoves away from Ladybug and gets as much distance as she get between her and Turtle. “Away from me, throw up _away from me!_ ”

Bee crosses her arms and continues to hover. “I am _not_ getting you two down from here.”

Fox puts her hands on her knees and hangs her head. “Oh _god_ I did not think this through.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Ladybug asks Turtle. He’s still on the ground, although he is looking significantly less green.

“I’m cool,” he says weakly, giving her a thumbs up.

“Good.” Ladybug takes a deep breath. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Bee’s wings stop for a brief second before fluttering quickly. “What do you mean?” she asks suspiciously.

Pressure builds up in Ladybug’s chest and she can’t do this right now. Fox looks at her expectantly.

“I’m Ladybug,” she says quickly. “And you?”

Bee narrows her eyes. “Queen Bee,” she says with a toss of her hair.

Fox straightens. “I was supposed to think of a _name_?!”

“I was kind of busy fearing for my life,” Turtle says as he gets to his feet.

“Not Volpina,” Fox says quickly. She shrinks back a little when Ladybug turns to look at her. “I don’t want the same name as an akuma, okay?”

Ladybug shrugs. “Okay.”

“Give me like a day and I’ll get back to you on that.” Turtle brushes off his suit. “So, uh, why are we here?”

Queen Bee lands on the beam next to Fox.

Ladybug hooks her yo-yo on her belt to keep from playing with it. “I need your help.”

“Does this have to do with Chat Noir being missing?” Fox asks.

Ladybug’s eyes widen. “Wha—”

“I follow the Ladyblog!” Fox says quickly. “Someone noticed Chat hasn’t been on any patrols since the last akuma, and so I made some conclusions. Easy conclusions to make. Chat is _always_ on patrols, always has been.” She hesitates. “Are we replacing Chat?”

Queen Bee puts her hands on her hips. “Are you trying to tell us that the three of us together amount to _one_ Chat Noir?”

Ladybug almost snaps at her. She almost says yes. Because Chat Noir is worth _everything_ to her. He’s her partner and best friend and other half and is better than her in so many ways. They balance each other out and fill in each other’s gaps and _no one_ could ever be equal to Chat.

But that’s not something she can say out loud. She’s nearly fighting back tears when she says, “That’s not what I’m saying.” She glares at Bee. “You can’t be equal to Chat Noir because you all have different strengths. You’re all here for different reasons, you all provide different things. Manpower, defense, protection, distractions. There’s no point in trying to be Chat Noir because you’re not.”

“Inspirational,” Bee grumbles.

“But what _happened_ to Chat?” Turtle asks. “Did he just up and vanish? Did he take a vacation?”

“And why _three_ of us?” Fox motions to Turtle and Bee. “If you’re saying that it’s not because the three of us are worth one Chat Noir.”

Bee just raises an eyebrow.

Ladybug closes her eyes.

When she opens them, she’s detached herself from all emotion. And has clenched her fists as hard as possible. She wishes she could dig her nails into her palms. Curse these suits.

Curse—

“Chat is away,” she says shortly. “I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

The three of them exchange a look that tells her that they’re all on the same wavelength. At least there’s a little hope that they’ll work well together as a team.

“He’ll be back?” Fox says carefully.

“Yes.”

“So you know where he is.”

Ladybug chews on the inside of her cheek. “He’s…not in Paris.”

“But he’s not off on some tropical island tanning, is he?” Bee asks. Her wings beat a few times, keeping her hovering just above the ground.  

Ladybug glances down to the ground, trying not to let her shoulders slump. “He… No. He’s not.”

“What happened?” Turtle asks.

Ladybug squeezes her eyes shut tightly as his screaming rings through her head. It aches in her bones and makes her want to drop the ground. “Chat got hurt,” she whispers. “I don’t know when he’ll be able to fight again.”

 _If_ he’ll be able to fight again.

She clenches her fists more, desperate to feel the grounding pain of nails digging into skin. “That’s all.” She looks each of them in the eye. “There’s three of you because Hawk Moth is stepping up his game. He’s creating stronger akuma and according to…an expert, he might start sending out multiple akuma at once. I need all the help I can get.”

The three exchange another look.

“This is going to be off the chain,” Turtle says unenthusiastically.

Fox groans and Bee just rolls her eyes.

Ladybug thinks to herself that this will definitely be _something_.

—«·»—

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asks.

“No,” Marinette mumbles, wrapping her arms around her cat pillow. “ _No_.”

“He’s going to be okay,” Tikki promises. “Fu said so. It’s just going to take time.”

“Nothing?” Marinette asks after a few minutes. She hasn’t stopped asking since she gave them her number.

“Nothing new,” Tikki says. She snuggles against Marinette’s cheek. “Give them time, Mari. They’ll let you know as soon as there’s some news.”

Marinette doesn’t answer, she just stares at the wall blankly.

“You should try to sleep,” Tikki says gently. “You need the rest.”

—·—

_He’s screaming._

_Ladybug jerks around to see him—_

_Her breath catches in her throat and she can’t even scream._

_He’s still screaming._

_She needs— She needs—_

_She doesn’t know what happens. She defeats the akuma. Somehow. Her mind is on autopilot. All she can focus on are Chat’s_ screams _._

 _She sprints over to him, tripping over herself and breathless, heart about to explode out of her chest. She keeps saying his name, over and over again but he’s not_ answering _._

_Hot tears leak out of her eyes as she panics because she has no idea what to do because her magic didn’t fix this and his suit is damaged— it’s eaten away— his eyes—_

—·—

Marinette sits up with a start. She’s crying. She’s sobbing. She doesn’t—

“Shh, it’s okay,” Tikki murmurs soothingly.

Marinette grabs her pillow from behind her and buries her face in it to muffle her sobs.

“Everything is okay,” Tikki says. “You’re okay.”

—«·»—

“Anything?” Marinette asks as she stares up at the ceiling.

“Nothing,” Tikki answers.

“They wouldn’t—” Marinette cuts herself off. She doesn’t want to even consider it.

“Nathalie would never.” Tikki floats into Marinette’s view. “She saw how distraught you were. I trust her.”

“Hm.”

She can still remember how Nathalie’s expression had changed from cold disinterest to terror when Ladybug told her why she was there. She remembers Nathalie bursting into Fu’s shop just after her, the way color had drained from her face as she heard his screams and saw him writhing on the floor in pain.

“Marinette?”

Marinette drags herself out of the memory to focus on Tikki. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay for school today?”

No.

“I’m fine,” she promises as she drags herself out of bed.

One more day, she keeps telling herself. One more day.

* * *

Ladybug winces as Turtle gets thrown away by the akuma, hitting Fox on the way to the wall. They crash into it together and fall to the ground in a tangled pile of limbs.

Queen Bee hangs back as the akuma taunts her. She meets Ladybug’s eyes and gives her a panicked look. The best Ladybug can do is give her a hesitant thumbs up.

Ladybug _knows_ this would be easier with Chat. Because they have a rhythm and pattern and _know_ how the other fights. Learning how to work with three new people is a challenge.

“Hivemind!” Queen Bee yells and Ladybug nearly jumps out of her hiding spot.

_What?!_

Bee looks just as surprised as ten clones of herself appear. Bee herself shrinks backward behind a tree. She’s motioning with her hands, and Ladybug realizes what Fu was talking about when he said that these new miraculous holders would bring manpower that they would need to fight these stronger akumas.

Bee was providing them with _actual_ manpower.

Ladybug aggressively motions to Turtle and Fox to get up from the ground where they’re watching in awe. Fox gets the message and repeatedly pokes Turtle’s arm until he notices and gets off of her legs.

“Lucky charm!” she says as Fox and Turtle provide a distraction. A stapler falls into her hands, and she takes in her surroundings. Her eyes narrow as they land on a notice board outside a restaurant.

Ladybug takes off, using one of Queen Bee’s clones as a platform to propel off of, stapling the chain of the akuma’s necklace to the board. As the akuma yanks away, the chord of the necklace breaks, freeing the akuma.

Ladybug captures the butterfly and purifies it, saying goodbye to the butterfly as it flies off. She nearly goes to fist bump Chat when she remembers that he’s not here.

She clenches her fist and ignores the pit in her stomach. She assures the akuma victim that everything is alright as Fox and Turtle help Queen Bee back out into the street. Queen Bee leans heavily on Turtle, pressing a hand to her head. She stops them when she stands in front of her four remaining clones. With a sigh, she pulls out the knife that hangs at her side. With a flick of her wrist, it extends into a saber. Fox and Turtle both jump backward as Bee slashes through the remaining clones. They disappear in a puff of pollen-like dust, and Fox catches Bee before she collapses.

“Are you alright?” Ladybug asks as soon as she’s sure that the victim is okay and they’re on their way.

“My head is going to explode,” Bee grumbles.

“It’s a good thing there’s three of us,” Turtle says as he ducks under Bee’s arm to help her walk. “Because I don’t think that would’ve gone very well if all of weren’t there.”

Ladybug silently agrees. This akuma wasn’t bad, but it was good that they all got a chance to test out their abilities and start learning. Sure, Queen Bee was the only one to use her special power, but that might have been a good thing.

—«·»—

Marinette barely gets through the rest of class. Lunch akumas are her least favorite, but at least she got back to class on time. Not that it matters, because she’s too exhausted and drained to pay any attention. She can’t stop staring at the empty seat in front of her.

“Heard anything else from Adrien?” Alya asks Nino once class is over.

“Not yet, but he’s probably busy with shoots.” Nino scrolls through his phone. “Man it sucks that his dad dropped the trip on him like that.”

Marinette just hums in agreement. She feels a little like she’s going to throw up.

“You okay, Mar?” Alya nudges her.

“Yeah, just tired.”

“I can tell, dude.” Nino pats her shoulder. “Good thing tonight’s light on homework.”

Alya nods. “Yeah, get some sleep, girl. You need it.”

—«·»—

It’s three twenty-seven am and Marinette is making a hoodie. Tikki gave up trying to get her to go to sleep hours ago. It’s not worth it. Her mind whirls as she stitches and she _can’t get it to stop_.

She wants to curl up in a ball and stop existing. She has no idea what to do and she’s so worried and all she can currently do is sit here and sew and that’s so _frustrating_. She digs her fingers into the soft black fabric and concentrates on making sure the stitches are small.

—·—

 _Ladybug scoops Chat up in her arms and runs. She’s just glad that it’s late and this was a dangerous enough akuma to warrant clearing the streets because she can’t_ handle _people trying to talk to her right now. People seeing._

_“It’s okay it’s okay,” she repeats to Chat. To herself. He’s a little quieter now. He’s crying. He’s hyperventilating— “Breathe with me,” she says. “In…out…” She’s barely breathing herself._

_She bursts into Master Fu’s shop. The first place she thought of. The only place she could bring him._

_“Put him down,” Fu says. He rushes out of the room as Ladybug puts Chat down on the mat. Wayzz watches in horror before zipping off after Fu. Chat inhales sharply as his back touches the ground._

_“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry,” Ladybug apologizes. She’s openly crying now and she can’t stop and some of the acid got on her and it’s melting part of her suit and—_

_Fu pulls her into a bathroom and instructs her to detransform and then bring him Tikki._

_She does so, trying her hardest not to hear Chat’s screams in the next room over. Tikki seems to be in pain, but she still checks Marinette to make sure that there’s no acid on any of her clothes. She drops into Marinette’s hands, trembling._

_Marinette takes a deep breath before pushing open the door, but it doesn’t matter. Chat is screaming like his heart is getting torn from his chest and Marinette feels the same._

_From the back of the room, Marinette watches Fu pry the ring off of Chat’s hand, dropping it into the cup of water beside him as green light flashes._

_Marinette nearly drops Tikki when she realizes who’s been under the mask this whole time. Who’s currently screaming in pain. Who’s covered in acid._

_“Adrien,” she whispers._

—·—

Marinette puts her head down on her desk. Her hands are shaking and she can’t sew with shaky hands.

Tikki nuzzles Marinette’s neck. “Please rest.”

“I- I c-can’t. I—” Marinette presses the base of her palms against her eyes until she starts to see stars and moving colors. “I can’t,” she whispers.

* * *

“Can’t I just be Michelangelo or something?” Turtle asks as he swings his legs back and forth.

“No _way_ am I going to be on a team with someone named after a _Ninja Turtle_ ,” Fox protests.

“At least he’s coming up with names,” Bee says with an arched eyebrow. “More than what you’re doing.”

Fox sticks her tongue out at her.

Ladybug rests her head against the rough brick of the chimney. Patrol feels so… _wrong_ without Chat. But it gives her something to do. It gives the four of them time to bond. Or argue. Or whatever. It gives the three of them time to get used to their suits and their powers. They’ve been superheroes for five akuma attacks now. Fox and Turtle have left quickly before any questions could be asked because they still haven’t figured out names. So Bee isn’t letting them leave tonight until they’ve decided.

Ladybug admits it’s nice to have their help. As stressful as helping three new heroes is. Fox had figured out her power during the second attack, using Foxfire to create a massive illusion, the distraction that Fu had been talking about. She’d also started using her flute as a bat, which apparently worked just as well as playing it. Considering Fox’s flute skills — zero — Ladybug will take it. Although they are all curious to know what happens when she plays it.

“Vixen,” Fox says, snapping her fingers. She looks to Bee with a wide smile.

“That has negative connotations,” Turtle says, spinning his shield.

“ _You_ have negative connotations,” Fox shoots back. “I like Vixen.” She sits back and crosses her arms.

Bee shrugs. “Whatever you want. Got anything, Donatello?”

“Have I ever told you your eyes are really creepy?” Turtle asks Bee. “Because, bro… _creepy_.”

Bee scoffs and throws her hair over her shoulder.

Turtle had figured out his powers during the fourth akuma battle. Healing powers. The fact makes Ladybug ache. The fact that they need a team member with healing powers. The fact that he was a few akuma attacks too late to help in the way he needed to. But she can’t focus on that.

He’s gotten better with the shield. “I watched a lot of Captain America videos on YouTube,” he had admitted to Vixen.

Vixen stared at him in awe and said, “You’re a nerd.”

Ladybug smiles to herself. She’s about fourteen different levels of stressed and anxious, but at least she still has things to smile about.

Turtle stops spinning his shield and lays down on his back to stare at the stars. “Green Guardian. Green Shell. Green Turtle.”

“Now you’re just saying what type of animal you are with the color of your suit,” Bee says, thoroughly unimpressed.

Turtle points to Ladybug. “Ladybug. Chat Noir.”

“Yeah but they’re the _original_ heroes,” Vixen says. “We’re the second wave of heroes. We need to be cool and unique to capture people’s attention so we aren’t just written off as Chat and Ladybug knockoffs.”

Turtle throws his shell at Vixen. She catches it with ease and wraps her arms around it protectively.

“Franklin,” Turtle suggests.

“What the—” Vixen cuts herself off. “You know what? No. I don’t really care where that came from. It’s _lame_.”

“Yertle,” Bee suggests with a smirk. “Yertle the Turtle.”

“First of all, no,” Turtle says sticking a hand up in the air. “Second of all, my man Seuss is great but I’m _not_ naming myself after _that_ turtle.”

“Yertle,” Vixen says with a snort.

“Did you know that in several mythologies, a giant turtle carries the entire world on it’s back?” Ladybug asks softly. “It’s called the World Turtle.”

Bee looks over her shoulder at Ladybug and Turtle props himself up on his elbows.

Ladybug looks up to the stars. “In Greek mythology, there’s a few different stories about turtles. In one, Zeus invited all of the animals to a party up on Olympus or something—” the details are fuzzy, it’s been ages since her and Chat have sat under the stars while he told her stories, “—and the turtle didn’t come. Zeus went to her and demanded to know why, and she said ‘there’s no place like home’ so he made her carry her shell with her everywhere she goes.” The stars twinkle and she _hurts_. “There’s another version where a nymph was invited and she doesn’t attend. So Zeus sends Hermes down to her and Hermes throws her and her house into the river, and she becomes the turtle. Chelone,” she says, remembering the name. It drops off her tongue and feels bitter and wrong. She can’t be pronouncing it the way Chat had.

“There’s the tortoise and the hare,” Bee adds, in a tone that makes it clear that she doesn’t _actually_ want to be part of this conversation but is just the slightest bit too forced. Too forced and Ladybug can see the legitimate interest underneath Bee’s snobby outer shell.  

“Slow and steady wins the race,” Vixen says with a small smile. She meets Ladybug’s eyes and Ladybug looks away quickly. She turns her gaze back to the sky.

“In China, turtle shells were used for divination in the Shang dynasty,” Ladybug says. She finds the North Star and then searches for Ursa Major. She remembers Chat drawing them out in the sky.

“What about Talos?” Turtle asks suddenly.

“What does that mean?” Bee asks, making a face.

“I mean…” He lays back down. “It doesn’t actually have anything to do with _turtles_ besides starting with a T. Talos was a dude in Greek mythology. A giant bronze robot thing. He protected the island of Crete.” He looks up to the stars. “I don’t know, we were talking about mythology and my best friend is a fan.”

Ladybug remembers Chat telling her about Talos once. It was one of their slower patrols. Those were her favorite types of patrol and she hadn’t even realized it until now. Chat had stories for all of the constellations. He’d retell myths at the drop of a hat, using wide hand gestures and cheesy puns as he attempted to give each character a different voice.

“I like it,” she says softly. “Talos is a protector.”

Vixen looks down at the shield she’s still hugging.

Bee finally lands on the rooftop, having just hovered a few inches above it all night. “Finally.”

Ladybug finds Leo in the sky, Chat’s words repeating in her mind. The content look on his face as he pointed out the ‘biggest cat in the known universe’ to her, his tail swishing happily. She wipes away tears before anyone else can notice them.

She wonders if he can see the stars right now. And if not, when he’ll see them again.


	2. asteriscus i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an intermission. 
> 
> Nathalie attempts to continue doing her job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN 12 YEARS IM SORRY!!!!
> 
> i haven't even been planning to write it?? i just?? did?????? 
> 
> i wanted to write some of what was going on with nathalie and the agrestes (a great band name tbh) and so! an intermission! there will probably be a few of these occasionally, not always nathalie, just switching up the pov from mari's. 
> 
> _asteriscus_ is latin for a little star or asterisk. 
> 
> it's short. no promises on when i'll update again. enjoy.

Adrien is breathing calmly. He seems less in pain than he was a few hours ago, at least on the outside. He’s unconscious, he can’t exactly be faking.

Nathalie pulls her gaze away from him. If she keeps looking, analyzing the acid burns on his face, she’ll never stop. She’ll never be able to stop comparing the present Adrien to the Adrien in her mind. She’ll never be satisfied with his recovery. She’ll always want it to be faster.

No, she wants it to be faster anyway. It can’t be fast enough.

Nathalie turns the light back off as she leaves the room.

She doesn’t like this house. It’s too small and cramped compared to the large Agreste mansion back in Paris. Some of the rooms have a light layer of dust on the surfaces and if she had time she’d dust them herself, but she doesn’t, so it just bothers her.

It’s too quiet.

That’s not to say that the mansion was noisey. It was large and empty, but there were distinct noises that she sorely misses now that they’re away. How her heels click on the floors. The noises from the street outside. Gabriel shouting at people on the phone. Gabriel talking on the phone. Gabriel moving around his office. Gabriel _moving_.

Nathalie doesn’t bother knocking on the office door. The lights are off, but that doesn’t matter. Gabriel is only ever in one of two places.

She misses Paris. She misses the schedule of life and the daily routine. She misses Adrien messing it up. If she ever meets Hawk Moth, she may break his nose.

Gabriel has his head in his hands when she enters the office. His shoulders are hunched and his hair sticks out in all directions. His tie is loose around his neck, his shirt is wrinkled, his glasses are off.

Nathalie doesn’t remember the last time he ate. She doesn’t remember the last time _she_ ate. She’ll need to get on that. She clears her throat. Gabriel doesn’t look up, but she wasn’t expecting him to.

“Adrien’s asleep,” she says. She flicks the lights on.

Gabriel lifts his head with a grimace. He blinks at her for a moment before rubbing his eyes. “How is he?”

Nathalie’s never seen him this tired. This drained. This _unhinged_.

Even when he lost his wife, he hadn’t been like this. He’d been quiet. He’d been stoic. And now she’s realizing that he had barely grieved at all. He hadn’t allowed himself to break, and now he’s been shattered to pieces.

She can’t get the image of him sobbing over his son’s broken body out of her mind.

“He’s better,” she says. “He just needs to rest, as Fu said.”

Gabriel rubs his face. “Of course. Just rest. Fu is right, of course.” He picks up his glasses and stares at them for a moment before sliding them on.

“Of course,” Nathalie murmurs. She doesn’t understand why Gabriel puts so much faith in an old healer. It seems to be some deeper trust than just the fact that Ladybug trusts Fu. There’s too much going on in this situation, and it’s not her place to dig.

She’ll save that for when Adrien’s better.

Nathalie doesn’t know how to feel about Ladybug. Other than that she doesn’t think Ladybug should’ve been trusted with the title as city protector. She can’t be much older than Adrien. Did Fu really believe that two children were the best people to take on a super villain? To protect an entire city?

She can’t blame that on Ladybug. Ladybug’s done the best she can with what she has. And she was there for Adrien. She saved Adrien’s life. In the end, isn’t that what’s most important?

Nathalie has had a number to contact Ladybug at for almost two weeks now. She hasn’t been able to bring herself to say anything. She’s not sure what to say. Gabriel has nothing to say and Nathalie isn’t a doctor. She would’ve rathered that they had brought Adrien to a doctor, but no one else even entertained the idea. Not Fu, not Ladybug, not even Gabriel. Not even Gabriel, who Nathalie had been so sure was going to agree with her. They refused to even consider— 

She finds the number on her phone. It takes her almost an hour to carefully craft less than ten sentences. She thinks she comes off colder than she should, but she needs this to be short and concise.

Nathalie sends it from Gabriel’s phone. She sends it and signs it with her name. She sets a glass of water down at Gabriel’s desk — he’s asleep on paperwork now, she doesn’t believe his bed has ever been slept in — and starts planning the next day. It feels wrong to only have meals and treatments to plan. She just cancels anything that comes Gabriel’s way. They’ll both have to work overtime when they get back to Paris but she doesn’t give a damn. She cancels another meeting.

Nathalie sits next to Adrien’s bed and goes through emails. After a little while, she stops looking at the screen and just focuses on the rising and falling of Adrien’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's not totally clear (and will be made clearer in the upcoming chapters) but nat and the agrestes are staying at their house in the countryside. because of course they have one of those.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah. i don't know. 
> 
> dumb akuma is dumb. i hate writing akuma fights tbh. random title is random. and medical accuracy??? i don't???? names??????? i tried? :/ 
> 
> i'm on [tumblr](http://sadrien.tumblr.com/tagged/my-fics), where you can either yell at me or send me more angst prompts so i can ruin my own day.


End file.
